Lines Across Time: A traveling exhibit on life in 19th Century Philippines
The latest edition of SMILE, Cebu Pacific Airlines’
in-flight magazine has named Museo Iloilo as one
of the country’s Top Ten Museums for its rare
collections of pre-Christian artifacts, Chinese
pottery, and religious relics.
Did you know that the four muses depicted at the Arroyo Fountain were originally bare-breasted? Indeed! But at some point in time, probably in the early 60s, some powerful manang deemed the sculpture offensive to Ilonggo sensibilities and drapes of cement were covered over the offending curves. Today, the Arroyo Fountain remains as glorious as it was, the fully-clothed muses notwithstanding.
Extant proof of the Arroyo Fountain in its original glory has remained, however, A large, early portrait of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol with the Arroyo Fountain in front is now part of an exhibit that opens today at the Museo Iloilo. The traveling exhibit, "Lines Across Time," pays tribute to our majestic heritage and depicts our socio-cultural evolution as portrayed by our "built environment," the homes (from bahay kubo to bahay na bato) that our ancestors lived in, the casa mayor (city or municipal hall), and their spatial relationship around the town plaza. The exhibit is brought to Iloilo by the Fundacion Santiago with support from the University of San Agustin and the Iloilo Cultural and Research Foundation, Inc. (ICRFI), steward foundation of the Museo Iloilo.
Lines Across Time is a three-module presentation which boasts of visual information replete wuth architectural plans and photographs from the Archivo Historico Militar, the Archivo General de Indias, the Servicio Historico Militar, and other Spanish archival institutions. There are also interactive kiosks and a learning kit for multimedia activities that are guaranteed to engage teachers, students, architects, urban planners, and heritage enthusiasts.
Aimed at showing how Philipine life was transformed by the Spanish influenced on our architecture -- the exhibit has three parts: House, Infrastructure, and Everyday Life. The first section showcases the bahay na bato, the residence of the elite insulares and peninsulares as well as the bahay kubo of the masa.
The second section deals with the infrastructure the Spanish built to support their colonial administration -- ports, railroads, bridges, and other official structures.
The third showcases the fabric of everyday town life as depicted in layouts of town plazas and churches.
Though the traveling exhibit was designed to describe the typical town setting in the Philippines in the 1800s, Ilonggos will easily embrace it as their own. Many of the heritage structures indicated in the display remain standing and fully functional in this part of the country. In brief, the exhibit should instill in the Ilonggo some sense of pride in his own heritage.
For the next three weeks, Ilonggos are encouraged to troop to the Museo Iloilo and get a glimpse of 19th Century Philippines through Lines Across Time, an abundant graphic documentation of the legacy left by Spain's military and civil engineers.
LSC